Improvement in railroad-crossing signals



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Railroad-Crossing Signal.

Patented June I., 1875.

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/ l @Jff STATEs PATENT OFFICE.

RALPH T. K1Ne,oE CLEVELAND, AND LUoIEN L. NUNN, oE oEEELIN, oHIo.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD-CROSSING SIGNALS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. l63,875, dated June 1,1875; application filed February l5, 1875.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, RALPH T. KING, of Cleveland, in the county ofCuyahoga, and LUGIEN L. N UNN, of Oberlin, in the county of Lorain, andState of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSignals for Railroad-Crossings; and we do hereby declare the following1to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make anduse it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which formpart of this specification.

' Our invention relates to an improved signal for railroad-crossings,and is designed to warn persons traveling upon the road of the approachof a train.

Our invention consists, first, in a novel mechanism attached to arailroad-rail, whereby the car-wheels, as they pass over it, are madethe motive power for operating` the signal; second, in the combination,with the said mechanism attached to a rail, of a whistle, or othersuitable mechanism, for giving a signal at a railroad-crossin g.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view, in elevation, of my improvementattached to a railroad-rail, showing a portion of the rail removed, soas to expose the mechanism. Fig. 2 represents a variation of myinvention, wherein the mechanism is employed for pumping water into arailroad-tank. Fig. 3 is another elevationv of my invention, showing adifferent location for the whistle A is a railroad-rail, cut away so asto accommodate the mechanism for operating the signal. B is a lever,pivoted to the said rail at b. At the end of its long arm is a piston,C, operating closely within the cylinder D. From the cylinder D leads apipe, E, to the crossing. ln the pipe E is a whistle, F, located in anysuitable position, either adjacent to the cylinder D, or at that end, e,of the pipe at the crossing. Gis a tilting lever, also pivoted to thepoint b. H is a block, hinged at h to the lever Gr; and a stop, h', isformed upon the lever G, in order to limit the motion of the block H.The upper portions of the lever G and the block H project just above thetread of the rail. The block H rests at its lower end, at i, upon theend l of the shortarm of the lever B; but the two are so united at thispoint that the bearing of the block upon the lever is unstable, so that,should any considerable pressure be brought upon the top ofthe block,near the Vpoint h, the block would be drawn 0E from the lever B, theresult of which would be that the signal would not be operated.

The operation of the device is very simple, and is as followss' Supposea train to be approaching the crossing from the left, its first wheelwill strike the block H, depressing it. This will raise the piston tothe top of the cylinder, and permit the cylinder to fill with air"through suitable valves. 'It will at the same time elevate the portion gofthe lever G. The wheel, in passing forward, will then ride upon thiselevated portion g, and will force the piston down into the cylinder.This will cause the whistle F to blow; and it the whistle is locatedadjacent to the cylinder, the sound will be conveyed through the pipe Eto the crossing. If, however, the whistle is located at the end ofthepipe E-that is, right at the crossing-then the tube E will act merely toconvey the blast ot' air from the cylinder D to the whistle F. The nextwheel, as it strikes the block H again, raises the piston C, and theoperation is repeated.

This device should be located several hundred feet from the crossing, soas to signal the train while still at some distance away; and it shouldbe located on both sides of the said crossing, so as to signal a trainwhen coming from either direction. It will be observed, however, thatafter the train has passed the crossing it will pass over one ofthedevices. The mechanism is, therefore, so constructed as to permit such atrain to pass without operating that mechanism located beyond. This iseffected by means ot' the block H. The train, as it approaches thissecond mechanism, will ride upon the projections g of the lever anddepress it. It will then strike the portion g',- this will cause theblock H to spring from the lever B at the bottom, and will fail to raisethe piston. The next wheel will operate in the same or similar manner,and thus a train will pass without operating the said mechanism in sucha manner as to give a signal.

` Instead of blowing a whistle located in juxtaposition'to the cylinder,the strokes of the piston will ring a bell, or may wave a flag, or

make any other suitable signal. If, however, a sound is made of anydescriptionV adjacent to the mechanism, then the tube should be employedfor conveying the sound to the poin at which the signal is to be given.

Our invention is not limited to making a signal at a railroad-crossing;but it may be employed in the vicinity of railroad-stations', for thepurpose of pumping water into tanks tot supply locomotives.

Instead of being located Within a rail, in the manner set forth in thedrawings, the said device may be recessed into one side of the rail, soas either to be operated by the lia-nge or f the tread of the wheels.

I in the drawings indicates a valve, which y may be located either inthe piston-head or at any suitable position, for admitting air to thecylinder during the forward stroke of the piston. So, also, the devicemay be provided with a safety-valve, so that should the whistle becomeclogged, or the pressure become too great, it could be relieved throughthe safetywaive.

JAny style of safety-valve might be employed for this purpose.

In the drawing the piston is represented as being connected directlywith the lever B, and located directly under the track. Thisconstruction is not essential, as the motion may be communicated andheld to one side by an intermediate lever or other suitable mechan ism.

What we claim as our invention is- 1. The railroad-crossing signal,consisting of the whistle, operated through the medium ot' a tiltinglever, adapted to be operated by the wheels of a train passing in onedirection Y only.

